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Abstract

There are several statutory provisions which provide for the rehabilitation of
environmental degradation and damage caused by mining activities.
These statutory provisions are among others contained in the Mineral Act', the Mineral
and Petroleum Resources Development Act and the National Environmental
Management Act which stipulates that prospect- or mining activities may only
commence once financial provision is made for the rehabilitation of the environment after
the completion of mining activities. This provision must be sufficient to cover all
expenditure for the rehabilitation of the environment.
Such financial provision can be made by taking the responsibility upon oneself by
contributing directly into a rehabilitation fund. This fund can take the form of a trust, a
section 21-company or a closed corporation.
This dissertation is an investigation into which of the aforesaid options will be the most
beneficial for the establishment of such a rehabilitation fund. The most important
consideration in this investigation is the fact that the chosen rehabilitation fund should be
safe to debtor claims against the estate of the establisher (the owner of the mining rights)
should he be sequestrated or his business (which could be a one man business, a
partnership, a company or a closed corporation) be liquidated.
After careful consideration and an investigation of all the legal principles of each of the
options a rehabilitation fund could take on, the conclusion is made that all three of the
options considered will enjoy the same amount of protected against the sequestration of
the establisher or the liquidation of his business.
It is clear that all three the investigated options will be suitable to be used as a
rehabilitation fund. Yet all three these options are not equally efficient. In the case of a
section 21-company the establishment thereof is a complicated and expensive, while the
procedure for the establishment of a closed corporation or a trust is less complicated. The
establishment of a trust is subjected to the least formalities. In the light of the above
mentioned facts it is my submission that a trust would be the most efficient form for a
rehabilitation fund.